1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to finger ring guards.
2. The Prior Art
Loosely fitting finger rings are quite common because in many instances finger knuckles are of greater girth than the portion of the finger on which rings are worn. This is particularly true when the ring wearer suffers from arthritis or other afflictions which cause knuckle enlargement. Moreover, even in cases where finger knuckles are not relatively large, physiological changes result in periodic changes in finger size causing rings to fit loosely from time to time. Various types of ring guards have been proposed by the prior art for enabling finger rings to be worn so that the rings remain properly oriented with respect to the finger without substantial discomfort and risk of loss.
Most of the proposals have been such that the ring guard itself must be installed on the ring before the ring is placed on the wearer's finger. Likewise most ring guards have to be removed from the wearer's finger with the ring. Examples of finger ring guards which are connected to a ring by the use of hand tools, such as pliers, are disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,217,097; 1,341,218; 1,741,908; 2,010,444; 2,817,219; 3,238,741; and, 3,552,144. These ring guards are essentially dedicated to one ring because of the difficulty and inconvenience involved in their removal and replacement from one ring to another. If the wearer of rings equipped with these kinds of ring guards has unusually large knuckles and/or is afflicted by arthritis, putting on and taking off the rings can be difficult and painful.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,380,263 discloses a finger ring guard which can be snapped into place after the ring is on the wearer's finger. This type of ring guard is not easily disassembled from the ring at least until the ring has been removed from the finger. Accordingly rings equipped with such guards can be difficult to remove from fingers.
In order to facilitate getting rings on and off fingers without discomfort, ring guards forming a structural part of the ring itself have been proposed. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,218,826; 3,360,959; and 3,901,045 disclose examples of such devices. These forms of ring guards all involve the use of specially constructed rings or rings which are modified by welding a hinge and catch in place. Although effective in facilitating placement and removal of the rings, these approaches are expensive and therefore not always practical.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,741,908 discloses a ring guard which can be detachably connected to a ring before placing the ring on a finger and can be manipulated so that the ring guard does not interfere significantly when the ring is placed on or removed from the finger. This ring guard proposal employs spring sections which resiliently bear on the inside periphery of the ring and projecting elements which react against the finger adjacent the spring sections. The guard can be swung away from its operative condition without removing it from the ring. Swinging the ring engaging spring sections into and away from their operative positions while the ring is being worn requires a fair degree of manual dexterity and may be difficult for some wearers to accomplish. Moreover the finger engaging elements define relatively small area finger engaging surfaces which can tend to cause discomfort.